Focusing on equity will benefit entire city

City Manager Sheryl Sculley talks to mayor Ron Nirenberg before presenting her FY18 proposed budget on Thursday. The budget must address the highest needs no matter where in the city these exist.

City Manager Sheryl Sculley talks to mayor Ron Nirenberg before...

City Manager Sheryl Sculley has unveiled a proposed $2.7 billion budget, the largest in the city’s history.

It’s a budget that promises more police officers and firefighters, and includes much-needed additional revenue for VIA Metropolitan Transit to improve bus service frequency on key routes. There is no tax rate increase, but what stands out most about this budget is its underpinnings in equity.

At the direction of a majority of council, city staff crafted a budget that prioritizes community needs. This is a departure from distributing spending as evenly as possible across the 10 council districts. But it fits Mayor Ron Nirenberg’s vision that addressing the city’s most pressing needs, regardless of location, ultimately serves the entire community.

It sounds great but will almost certainly be politically challenging. The majority of voters live on the North Side, where the need is generally least (but still very much exists).

Opinion

Already, new District 6 and District 8 Council members Greg Brockhouse and Manny Pelaez have raised concerns about their constituents not getting a fair shake. It will be up to Nirenberg and Sculley to address their concerns. But it will also be on Brockhouse and Pelaez to see the larger picture and sell that vision to their constituents.

The reality is there are wide swaths of this community that haven’t received a fair shake in terms of community investment for generations, and we all pay the price for that neglect.

We’re one of the most economically segregated cities in the country. Our growth is wildly imbalanced to the north, leading to massive traffic congestion for those residents. Homicide rates are intensely focused in certain parts of the East and West Sides, areas that merit more police resources. Poverty rates are entrenched in certain neighborhoods.

Addressing some of that inequity through city budgeting could have long-term benefits for the entire community. Over enough time it could bring much-needed balance. For example, if more people choose to live on the South, East and West sides, then they aren’t driving on the North Side. If property values in underserved areas rise thanks to better streets, sidewalks and improved safety, that means more revenue for the entire city.

It also makes sense. Consider the case of road maintenance, a constant source of taxpayer angst. Sculley has recommended boosting street maintenance from $64 million to $99 million. The vast majority of that increase would be dedicated to Districts 1, 2, 3, 5 and 10 where she said many roads are in need of dire maintenance. This will bring roads in these districts up to snuff. It doesn’t mean other districts won’t receive road maintenance funding, but it does mean additional revenues will address the most pressing needs.

Likewise, plans to better fund VIA bus service will hopefully make it easier for residents to use the bus to get to work, and take drivers off our roads.

Public safety is another source of taxpayer concern. Police vacancies are an ongoing issue that have to be addressed. Beyond filling vacancies, the proposed budget calls for 40 additional police officers (25 of those officers are predicated on a Department of Justice grant). The city is planning on eight SAFFE (San Antonio Fear Free Environment) police officers. These officers are focused on building relationships with the communities they serve. Three will be dedicated to the East Side and three on the West Side, where homicides have surged.

City Council will adopt the next budget in September. Equity budgeting simply reflects we are one community before we are 10 council districts.